


Of Appearances and True Selfs

by Melethril



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Episode: s02e15 Mai Ka Wa Kahiko (Out of the Past), Gen, M/M, Post-Episode: s02e15, Pre-McDanno, Pre-Relationship, also known as canon, mcdanno, set in season 2
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-11
Updated: 2018-08-11
Packaged: 2019-06-25 18:46:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,742
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15646734
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Melethril/pseuds/Melethril
Summary: When Grace starts self-defense lessons after she was kidnapped by his former training officer, Danny checks out the center to meet with her trainers. It does not quite go as expected.





	Of Appearances and True Selfs

**Author's Note:**

  * For [KatieTaylor](https://archiveofourown.org/users/KatieTaylor/gifts).



> I entirely blame KatieTaylor for this. She's wonderful person, amazing writer and a horrible, horrible enabler who keeps encouraging me to write H50 instead of reminding me that there is a WIP HP and several WIP Marvel stories sitting on my desktop demanding my attention.  
> @KatieTaylor: Thank you, my dear, and thank you for beta-ing.
> 
> I would also like to acknowledge kristen999 for her outstanding stories and sanctuary_for_all for her Partners Series; these stories together with H50 itself have inspired me to write something in this fandom.
> 
> This is not my first H50 story, but it is my first on AO3 and the second one I publish. So please, be gentle.

**Of Appearances and True Selfs**

Danny barely managed to control his features. Years as an officer of the law had him encounter many odd people: from the harmless yet strange to the soul-crushing horrific, he had seen it all. As such, he had soon learned not to let his facial expression slip, no matter how strange the individual’s appearance was.

Yet, this had been rather unexpected.

In the aftermath of Grace’s kidnapping, Rachel – also as a result of Grace’s own wishes – decided to send their daughter for self-defense lessons; suggestions from Danny’s side – that Five-0, especially Kono, could contribute – had fallen on deaf ears. So, instead, he was forced to drop his kid off at a private-school-and-child-psychiatrist-approved self-defense course. She had gone to these biweekly lessons for a total of eight times already, and was quite fond of them. So naturally, Danny wanted to check it out. Her usual trainer, Frank, was ill, so a substitute came in.

“Jeanine will be giving today’s lesson, Danno!” Grace had exclaimed excitedly as soon as she was dressed and ready. “She’s my favorite, but she usually teaches the little kids between five and seven.”

Why anybody would want to teach their kids self-defense at that age was a mystery to Danny, but he was rather curious to meet Jeanine.

She turned out to be… not quite what he had expected.

“Hi, there, kiddos. Since my dear old Frankie’s not feeling too hot, I’m taking over your lesson today, sweet pies,” said the slim African American feminine-looking male who was about Danny’s age and barely two inches taller than him. There were many words the former New Jersey detective could have used to describe ‘Jeanine’. The kindest description was that he could have easily fit into a rendition of the Rocky Horror Picture Show. His hair was dyed green on the edges, long and combed close. “Oh, hello there, handsome daddy. Gracie, dear, is that your papa?”

“Yes,” Grace beamed.

“Alright,” said her trainer, drawling out the words before giving him a once-over and focusing on the lesson. Danny stood on the sidelines as he watched ‘Jeanine’ teach five children how to defend themselves and he had to admit after twenty minutes of hawk-like observation that he was not awful at it. Grace loved her trainer, that much was obvious, which was a bit surprising given his rather unusual appearance, so at the end of the lesson, Danny asked as innocently as possible about what she thought of the man.

“Oh, she’s great! She reminds me of Uncle Steve.”

Again, Danny had to bite his lips not to laugh; he would tease the hell out of his partner for that one. 

“Why would you say so?” he coughed. 

“Like she has to consciously hold back a bit, which is a bit like those extra-careful hugs Uncle Steve gives, especially in the beginning when we first met, but also now sometimes; like he’s afraid he could hurt me if he’s holding me too close. And Jeanine moves like Uncle Steve: she’s very silent, and sometimes you can hear them deliberately take a noisy step. Or when somebody that’s not  _ohana_  goes up to Uncle Steve and grabs his shoulder when he doesn’t expect it… Jeanine always rolls her shoulder as if trying to let go off of some build-up tension. Uncle Steve does that all the time. You, Uncle Chin and Auntie Kono, you make yourself bigger if necessary, but Uncle Steve always makes himself smaller.”

It was like somebody had hit him with a sledgehammer. Now that his daughter had pointed it out and he was not focused on outer appearances, he could see it all too well. ‘Jeanine’ seemed to have training beyond ‘this is how you teach children to protect themselves’ and Danny could not believe he had not noticed it before. He was so lost in thought, he barely noticed that the children were packing up and said goodbye to their trainer.

“Danno?” asked Grace, not understanding her father’s sudden silence.

“What’you just say, Gracie-pie? Danno?” asked ‘Jeanine’ from the  _other side of the room_  – God, was he another ninja? “As in Grace and Daniel “Danno” Williams, detective and member of Five-0?”

“Yes?” challenged Danny warily, which led to a sound of surprise or delight, it was hard to tell. ‘Jeanine’ turned swiftly, grabbed his phone and dialed a number on speed-dial.

“Steven John McGarrett, you are a very nasty, nasty liar,” Grace’s trainer began, their voice high and indignant. “When you mentioned Gracie, you did not tell me accurately just how beautiful she is. Shame on you!” There was a pause and Danny’s heart skipped a beat. “She’s part of a defense class I took over for Frankie today, and let me tell you, she’s always been my favorite. Even more so now that I know she’s  _your_  Grace.” ‘Jeanine’ winked at Grace who giggled. She listened intently to the next words on the other side of the line. “Of course I’m telling you to get your butt in here as quickly as possible instead of at 7 as agreed. Your girl is waiting. Really, men! Can you believe it?” she asked Danny after she finished her call and Danny had no idea what to say.

Grace’s entire face lit up at the mention of Steve.

“You know Uncle Steve?”

“Yes, sweet cheeks,” smiled Jeanine, her face open, wide and so happy. “We served together in the Navy.”

“So, you’re a SuperSEAL, too?” asked his little girl in excitement. “I didn’t know that!”

Jeanine’s laughter was low and genuinely kind, “Oh, Gracie-pie, no, I was not. There are very few SEALs and even fewer SuperSEALs, though Steve is definitely one of those. No, sweetheart, I was SWCC, member of Special Boat Team 12 stationed in Coronado, California.”

“What’s SWCC?” Grace inquired curiously.

“Special Warfare Combatant-Craft Crewmen. It was my job to make sure the SuperSEALs are safely brought in and out of danger zones.”

“So, you were Uncle Steve’s guardian?”

Jeanine was just about to deny that claim when a familiar voice at the entrance had them all turn around.

“Absolutely,” Steve answered seriously, his eyes soft and kind as he looked at Danny’s daughter. “Without the SWCCs, the SEALs would run into a lot of trouble. They are crucial, especially when we were out there for too long. It was always a sight for sore eyes when Ensign Clark,” with his head, he gestured at Jeanine, “came about to pick us up. She’s a national treasure.” At that, he briefly smiled at Jeanine whose flamboyant personality was a bit retracted and replaced by a look of genuine affection, her right hand reaching for her heart to show just how touched she was.

“Uncle Steve!” squealed Grace as she ran to hug her favorite uncle whose full focus was immediately on her. There it was: the hug basically dwarved his little girl, but the head of Five-0 was so, so careful not to hurt her. Danny had the urge to tell him that he could squeeze harder. His brilliant baby girl noticed, of course, and intensified her hug while her head rested on broad shoulders, which caused Steve to tighten the hug just a little bit.

“Hi, Gracie. So Jeanine has taken over your training, huh?” he asked as he drew back, sitting on one knee giving her a once-over. “That’s brilliant. She’s fantastic at hand-to-hand… self-defense,” he corrected himself immediately. His smile was wide and honest in a way it only was when only his favorite people surrounded him.

That was probably it.

“Hi, Danno,” the warmth in the low voice did all kinds of things to Danny’s insides.

“Hey, babe,” he croaked as a reply.

Then Steve rose and Jeanine basically danced over to him.

“Handsome, if you think you can get away with a simple ‘hey’, you are so mistaken.”

With that, they hugged for a moment before Jeanine drew back, kissed his left and right cheek before she gave him a peck on the mouth. Steve’s hand gently grasped the back of her neck and he gifted her with one of his goofy smiles. 

“Oh!” Grace exclaimed. “Are you Steve’s girlfriend?”

That made Jeanine chuckle, “Oh, I wish, kiddo, but no. You see the Navy is not a big fan of fellow sailors being together, especially if one of them is a superior officer.”

“But Catherine…” began Grace with a frown.

“…Never served under me,” completed Steve gently, either oblivious of or totally cool with holding hands with Jeanine. “Technically, neither has Jeanine, but we worked too closely together for anything to happen.”

“But neither of you are in the Navy now.”

Danny could not be more proud of his non-judgmental, open-minded daughter or he would likely implode. The smile Steve bestowed her with was filled with love and pride. Jeanine’s eyes seemed to fill with tears.

“Ah, honey, but you see, the two of us, we work so much better as friends. Besides,” her voice was lowered to a conspiratorial whisper. “He’s in love with somebody else. Don’t tell anyone.” Danny’s gaze snapped to Steve who looked at everything but the three people in the room. “Jeanine,” the man warned gently.

“Is it Catherine?” asked Gracie with a smile and Danny – though he could not explain why – felt his insides turn into knots.

“Possibly,” was the mysterious, mischievous answer. Steve just shook his head and his smile was disappearing. It was very clear that he did not want to have this conversation and Jeanine tightened her grip on his hand apologetically.

Grace, apparently, still had questions, “If you are not his girlfriend, then why kiss him?”

“Why did you hug him?” Apparently, Jeanine decided to trade a question for a question.

“’Cause I like hugging him.”

“Yeah, he gives the best hugs, doesn’t he?” she asked fondly and Grace confirmed with an eager nod. Steve’s goofy smile was wide and bright. “You think he loves hugging you back?”

“Yes, of course!” 

“Exactly. And he likes my kisses, too, so that’s why I do it.”

Grace accepted that and Danny could not help chuckling while Steve’s smile turned a little wider.

“Now that we’ve all agreed that Steve’s the world bestest hugger after your dad, you should go change, monkey, because it’s dinner time.” Grace immediately obeyed. Now it was Detective Williams’ turn for questioning.

“DADT wasn’t a problem?”

“Oh, munchkin… I did not look nearly as fabulous back then compared to now. This hair is the work of six years retired from the Navy.”

“You looked fantastic back then,” Steve contradicted earnestly and she mock-swooned. 

“Love you, you big hunk of a man,” she said, side-hugging Steve. “Anyway,  _detective_ , I know where this line of questioning is going. The answer is ‘no’ because I was surrounded by fantastic sailors unlike the more than 3000 poor bastards who were screwed over, and not in the fun way. Darling Steve here was a big help. His acceptance was crucial for how I was viewed first by his comrades and later the men under his command. Despite feeling more at home with the Navy than ever before in my life, I decided to retire and open up shop here in Oahu.”

“You’re the owner,” Danny realized.

“I named it according to my nickname for the boys I served with.”

“Bears of the Trident?” Danny questioned doubtfully.

Jeanine giggled, “If you saw them, you’d know what I’m talking about. This guy here,” she tilted her head towards Steve, “is positively tame compared to some of his men.” Then she continued, “They spent a substantial amount of hazard pay to help me set everything up.”

“And in turn, you later paid us back and we can come here whenever we want,” Steve explained further. “If we live in Oahu with children, they can come here for free lessons.”

“Oh dear!” she sounded rather dismayed. “Yes, of course. I nearly forgot. Daniel, sweet cheeks, please tell lovely Rachel that Gracie’s lessons are paid for. And if she wants to, I would take care of her lessons personally.”

“Really?” Grace exclaimed emerging from the changing area. “Oh, I’d love to! Your lessons are the best.”

Jeanine looked positively charmed, “Thank you, dearie.” Then she perked up. “Now, want to see just how good your Uncle Steve is?”

“Yes!”

“Buckle up, sailor,” said Jeanine drawing back. Steve seemed to resist at first, but ultimately, he readied himself. For safety’s sake, Danny coaxed Grace a bit further back.

There was no obvious signal that started the demonstration, but… okay, so Steve had held back on them. Danny still remembered that boxing match Steve had agreed to do for charity in which his opponent had soundly defeated him. And, sure, when it came to pure force and form, a professional boxer was superior, but… Steve was mean. In contrast to every other aspect that was Steve’s honorable personality, Steve’s hand-to-hand combat style was dirty and a mixture of military hand-to-hand combat measures and all kinds of moves picked up over the years. In a pure boxing ring environment, the SEAL was at a disadvantage especially if he fought taller and stronger opponents (not that there were many of those hanging around). In any natural environment though, he had outstanding situational awareness and was able to make use of any object in the room to gain the necessary edge to win. Also, he adapted his style to the opponent he was fighting. Jeanine’s style was swift, flexible and no less vicious; blows and blocks were exchanged very quickly, it was apparent just how used they were to sparring with each other. Danny knew the second Steve would fall flat on his back. Grace took a sharp intake of breath while Jeanine looked furious and snapped something in what Danny would guess an Arabic sounding language. Steve shook his head and briefly glimpsed at Grace.

_Oh._

He was holding back because Grace was in the room… because it would break his far-too-big heart if his actions scared her. Of course, the thought was ridiculous, but it perfectly fit into Steve’s bizarre mindset. Danny could not stand for this misconception and decided to take matters into his own hands.

“Go, Uncle Steve!” He cheered his partner on. Grace, naturally, joined in. “You can do it!”

Danny was not entirely sure what Steve did different during the second round, but Jeanine was having much more trouble blocking very swift blows, and then, one hit broke through her defense and she was on the ground, a huge grin on her face. Danny wondered if she had noticed Steve’s automatic reach for his right thigh, where he kept his knife at all times. The New Jersey native certainly had, and it was mildly terrifying. Thankfully, Steve’s self-control was beyond measure. Interestingly, when Jeanine fell, her hand had reached for her ankle where Danny could swear used to be a hidden weapon. These two were not trained for martial arts competitions. They were trained to end the threat with whatever means necessary.

“Can you teach me that?” Grace asked excitedly, oblivious about just how lethal her uncle and her new defense teacher were.

“No,” Steve grinned apologetically as he helped Jeanine get up. “I’m not allowed to teach children… or civilians for that matter, I’m afraid. I had to ask for special permission to be able to train with Five-0.” Grace smile dimmed a bit. “But tell you what, I’m here every second Thursday evening unless there is a case. We’ll arrange things in a way so that I first come and watch to see your progress. How does that sound?”

“’kay,” Grace agreed readily. Comfortable silence followed this exchange and Danny glimpsed at his watch. It was time for Grace’s dinner. Steve, because he noticed every miniscule movement on Danny’s part, immediately jumped in, “Why don’t all three of you come over to my place? There should be enough food for everyone.”

“Can we, Danno?”

“Yes, can we, sweet cheeks?” 

Three sets of puppy dog looks of which Jeanine’s gleamed with joy and mischief were too much for Danny to resist. When he saw Jeanine practically skipping to her office to shut down the place and side-hugging Steve again, which was met with a gentle expression usually reserved for Grace and Mary, Danny already knew that their  _ohana_  had just adopted another member and he was looking forward to getting to know her.

 

**Author's Note:**

> You might have noticed that Danny mentally does what I call pronoun game in this story. At first, he was not sure how to label or name Jeanine, but realizes that she actually prefers to be addressed as a lady.


End file.
